The Republic
by IrohLegoman
Summary: My take on the start of the Equestrian Civil War, Solar Empire vs the New Lunar Republic, as told by the NLR's view point over the years. (PS formatting fixed)
1. The Aggravation

After Nightmare Moon was defeated and the Lunar Princess was returned, peace and harmony was at its highest. Though some would think. Not long after the Lunar Princess' return, four threats returned: the return of Discord, the infiltration and invasion by Queen Chrysalis, the return of King Sombra, and the conquering by Tirek. This was the start of the underlying tension that brought forth the civil unrest.

With the rise of these 'villians' and their ability to defeat the Solar Princess made some ponies question her power; her power to protect and her power to rule. The Solar Princess, began to make many laws. These laws started as simple national security, but turned more radical. The Lunar Princess, with the help of her innocence from a thousand years away from the progressing society, notice a great change in her sister's behavior. She tried to convince her sister away from the path the Solar Princess was heading. The Solar Princess dismissed her sister's concerns stating that she did not know as much about the modern world, and these were necessary steps.

The Royal Guard was increased due to the new laws. Many new recruits poured in to the training camps. Those that were already trained were sent to the corners of Equestria and everywhere in between. Guards were also sent abroad to the overseas colonies. At first the guards where for the extra protection of the town, along with the local law enforcement. They were at first nice, treating the citizens with the utmost care. As time went by, the kind guards eventually dissolved into a force not to dealt with.

Though that the guard was increased, it was the Solar Guard that was increased. The Lunar Guard, for the most part, stayed the same, if not decreased. While the Solar Guard was out in Equestria, the Lunar Guard was given remedial tasks; cooking, maintenance, and all secluded to the training camps. Compared to the Solar Guard, they were under trained and unprepared. There was not that many that joined the Lunar Guard, those that were were treated poorly my their training peers.

With reports of Changlings coming in and that they were getting my daring in their operations, the Solar Princess decided that it was time find them. It was not that long before their lair were found. The Lunar Princess tried to stop the Solar Princess from her plans, and pleaded that the action was not necessary. The Solar Princess said it was necessary for the safety of of Her ponies.

The Solar Princess went ahead with the plans. She sent the Guard in take care of the changelings; not just the Solar Guard, but the Lunar Guard as well. The Lunar Guard was sent into the lair first, the Solar Guard was only sent in when it was mostly over. The under trained, unprepared, and ill equipped Lunar Guard, for the most part, was slaughtered. Only a fifth of the Lunar Guard survived, only about a few hundred; while the Solar Guard did not lose a single soldier. This did not make the lunar Princess happy.

The Changeling Queen was captured. As told by the newspapers, the Solar Guard went in and destroyed the 'evil' changelings, without a single loss, and that they were the ones who captured the Changeling Queen. The Solar Guard was welcomed back with a tremendous victory celebration. The Lunar Guard, or the remnants of it, was 'hushed-hushed' back to the training camps, with not even a mention of them. This made the Lunar Princess angry.

The Lunar Princess approached the Solar Princess demanding to know why that her guard was sent in, slaughtered, and not even a mention of them, while the Solar Guard was being praised. The Solar Princess apologized for the misunderstanding and that it will be fixed. The next day a report was made by the Solar Princess about the actions of the Lunar Guard. It was told that the Lunar Guard was full of corrupt and incompetent leaders, and they insisted that they go after the Changelings. They were denied, but they disobeyed orders. When the Solar Princess found out, she sent a Solar Guard unit after them. When the Solar Guard got there, it was too late and that the Lunar Guard had already started the fight. The fact of the guard being almost utterly destroyed was from them being under trained, unprepared, and ill equipped. When the Lunar Princess found out, she was furious. She stopped talking to the Solar Princess.

One night, while roaming the halls, she spotted her sister entering a door surrounded by guards. The Lunar Princess, though furious with her sister, thought this was odd. Normally guards guarded important doors, and most of them were on the upper levels on the castle. This was on a lower level, a very lower level, where most of the supplies were kept. The Lunar Princess decided to take a look. She approached the guards and faced them. The Guards said nothing. The Lunar Princess took a step forward. The guard immediately yelled 'halt'. The Lunar Princess was taken back for a moment at the guard telling her to stop. She took a another step and the guards crossed the door. The Lunar Princess demanded to enter, and the guards denied. She demanded to know why and they replied that the Solar Princess said to to let anyone in. The Lunar Princess huffed and walked away.

After a while, the Solar Princess exited and asked if anything was new. They replied that the Lunar Princess tried to enter. After hearing this, she nodded and walked away. The Lunar Princess saw all of this. With the Solar Princess gone, she turned into her signature 'mist' form. She floated by the the guards and into the room. There she saw the Changeling Queen, beaten. The Lunar Princess materialized, and scared the already frightened Queen. She assured her she means no harm and asked what happened. The Queen said that the Solar Princess had been torturing her for the location of the rest of the changeling hives. The Lunar Princess was in shock of what happened. The Queen told her that she was to be executed, but doesn't know when. This only surprised the Lunar Princess more. With that, she knew she had to do some thing.

After some thought in her tower, the Lunar Princess had a plan. Using her dream powers, she came as a shadow in their dreams with a tale of better time. Those the Solar Sister overlook, and that had lost the last vestige of hope. She also wrote letters to all the families that had lost their loved ones in the attack on the changelings. She wrote each one individually and told about what they in the battle. She gathered her leaders and told them of her plan. Overtime, more and more recruits had been requesting the Lunar Guard. This made the Solar Princess suspicious and limited their size to only a five hundred members, roughly half that of pre-changeling battle. The Lunar Princess had anticipated this and the plan went on.


	2. The Defiance

They day finally came that the Solar Princess was to execute the Changeling Queen. It was to be a public execution. It was to show the world that nopony was to mess with the Solar Princess, and those that did were to be dealt Lunar Princess tried to plead one last time to 'Stop this madness.' But the Solar Princess heard none of it, and continued on.

The Solar Princess went up to the bound and waiting Queen. She made an announcement to all that watched about her power and that 'none shall question it.' She raised her horn and began to charge it. Once charged she lowered it to the Queen and spoke, "And Thou Shall Die!" As she said so, a dark blur flew into her, knocking the Solar Princess away and into a wall. The magic bolt the Solar Princess had charged and that was aimed for the Queen was set off, flying into a tower and completely obliterating it.

When the dust had settled it was seen that the Lunar Princess was the dark blur. The audience was in shock of what had occurred. The Solar Guard was the first to recover and set about to apprehend the Lunar Princess. They were never able to get moving as the sky came black as the pegasi of the Lunar Guard came flying down out of the skies. The unicorn and earth ponies of the Lunar Guard flooded in to the arena. Members of the Solar Guard started to betray they comrades, as they were agents of the Lunar Guard. The Solar Guard was trapped, surrounded and out numbered. More than five hundred members of the Lunar Guard was now in control of the arena.

The Solar Princess finally recovered from being hit into a wall. She noticed the dark colors that filled her white arena, over five hundred of them. But there was one that caught her attention. The Lunar Princess, stood before her, in full battle armor.

* * *

"Luna!" Celestia yelled getting back to her hooves. "What hast thou done. Dost thou deny thee sister?" she asked reverting back to Olde Equestrian.

"Thou art not mine sister," replied Luna. This ticked Celestia off. "Thou sister wouldst never doeth this. Thou sister art kind and caring. And thou art not her. Since mine return, thoust changed, for the worst. Thoust restrict'd freedoms, had many innocent lives innocent lives sent to their death. And I will not standeth by watching thou doeth this. I will not leteth thou harmeth another." With that, Luna undid Chrysalis' bindings with her magic. "Go and survive," Luna said to the freed Chrysalis.

Celestia watch as she did this. "NAIVE!" She yelled. "Thou doeth not know what thou hath done. If thou art not mine sister, thou art my enemy. Have at thee!" She said charging and releasing a magic blast.

Luna shielded herself against the blast. "We here to relieve thou of thy royal duties. Ye art not fiteth to be a Princess."

Celestia's mane began to become fire, "Then thou will not hast a princess, thou wouldst hast a Queen! Not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn, treacherous as the Sea, stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall obey me!" With that, Celestia's pure white coat became blood red, her now fiery mane became an inferno.

Luna had hoped that Celestia would not do this. The Celestia she knew was long gone. And now the pony that stands before her is Solar Flare.

"Haveth your way!" Luna cried as she ripped off her armor. A swirling black mist began to form around her. When the mist subsided stood a black mare that everypony knew, Nightmare Moon.

Solar Flare, after seeing this, shot off some blasts, which Nightmare Moon easily deflected. Nightmare Moon took to the sky and fired at Solar Flare. Solar Flare dodge and the blast went into the stands. Thankfully there was nopony there as the Lunar Guard escorted everypony out. Nightmare rushed to Solar firing her horn, which Solar Dodge and flew off.

The sky above the Castle was full of magical blasts that missed their mark or were deflected. The two powered alicorns flew towards each other lighting their horns and firing, passing each other, and coming around again. Their aerial battle lasted for some time. They came around and were facing each other. They each let out a stream of magic at the other. The two beam met at the center, each pushing against the other. Each powered alicorn put more energy into their magic stream. They were like that for several minutes, the meeting point slightly moving back and forth, but remaining in the center. The energy at the meeting point, from the energy of the magic being put into it, eventually exploded sending both powered alicorns flying back. The two tumbled out of the sky, and crashing into the ground, the energy drain from them.

* * *

Luna awoke staring at a blue field, with green borders. She got up and took note of her surroundings. She was in a forest, the amount of trees and the devoid of ponies told her that. It was still in the afternoon, not time for the sun to set or the moon to rise. Their powers are to lift and lower the bodies, their progression across the sky is their own. A freshly dug trench, along with newly knocked down trees, that lead to her, now standing in a pit, showed she fell with a force.

Luna heard a stream not too far from her crash site, and went to investigate. Upon arriving, she noticed her reflection. It was that of her when Nightmare Moon was expelled from her, her low magic state; unlike when she gave Twilight all her magic and had none. No doubt her sister would be like this, and her pink mane to. Luna held in a laugh as she thought about Celestia's subjects seeing her in her low magic state, with a pink, non-ethereal mane.

After using the water from the stream to clean the dirt and mud off, and the time it took, Luna now had enough energy to to fly. She took off and headed to the rendezvous point. Time for Part Three.


	3. The Succession Part 1

The forest around the ruins of the old castle was abuzz. Ponies in dark armor moved everywhere. The sky was covered with clouds. Small tents made a sea of green on the normally open ground. The castle itself, wooden beam littered the sides like overgrown ivy; tarps and sheets gave it a pseudo-roof.

A brown earth pony with blue eyes and a globe as a cutie mark stood outside of the castle, under a tent. He was looking at wide range of papers in front of him. Three of the papers he looked most at featured a map of Equestria with red lines and circles, map of the immediate area with X's and lines, and a sketch of the castle behind him in full glory. The brown pony was broken from his concentration when a green pegasus approached him

"Sir," the pegasus saluted, "A pony has been spotted flying this direction."

"A 'Single' pony?" the earth pony asked. "Could you make out any features?"

"Yes sir, alone. We are unable to make out any features," the pegasus said.

"Keep an eye on it, and stay hidden, dismissed."

"Yes Sir," said the green pegasus.

The earth pony went back to studying the papers before him. It was a few minutes later when he heard the sound of wings flapping again.

"Greetings General Andy," said a loud feminine voice behind him. Turning around was Princess Luna, in her low magic form.

"Yes Princess," he said snapping to attention.

"How goes the work here?" Princess Luna asked.

"Very fine. The first of boulders are making here from Rambling Rock Ridge and repairs on the castle are already under way," General Andy explained.

"General! General!" Off in the near distance a mauve pegasus sped toward his position. Landing fast in front of him, the pegasus barely skid as she saluted. "General, its the princess. The thing we spotted was flying, then it just disappeared. It has to be the princess. We don't know which one. I hope its not Celestia," spat out the pegasus, oblivious to Princess Luna behind him.

"Thy hopes it's not thy sister," replied Luna. Just realizing Princess Luna was right there, the mauve pegasus stiffened her salute, but looking very nervous.

"Apologies my Princess," started General Andy, "She is one of the new trainees. We are short on pegasi scouts and put her there while we waited for the main units from Canterlot."

"Tell me your name," asked Princess Luna.

"Mallow, Mallow Flower, Princess," Mallow nervously replied.

"And what is a petite pony like yourself doing in a tough army like this?" Luna was genuinely curious.

"I am an architect by trade, but have a passion for flowers. There were several species of rare and endangered flowers in a field by my home on the Unicorn Ridge. The Solar Army came in and set up a base in that field, destroying all those flowers. I was so angry. I tried to tell them, but they blew me off. One of your scouts picked me up and told me about what you are doing. I want to help. I want to get revenge for all those flowers that could not save themselves." Mallow said stomping a hoof on the ground, "I will cut them down like they did my flowers. I will rip then apart like they did they petals. I will Destroy them All!" Mallow finished with a fire in her eyes.

Princess Luna and General Andy were both taken back a bit by how violent the petite pegasus mare had become.

"Hold on to that feeling Mallow Flower," Luna broke the silence, "use that anger and focus it to your training, and you will get your revenge." Luna paused and Mallow looked up from her fiery stare, "but take heed you pony, do not let the anger control you. Do not be the one to foolishly rush into battle first, for you would be the first one to foolishly die."

"Now run along little pony, you still have a lot of training before you," Luna said dismissing the mauve pony.

"Yes Princess," Mallow said chipper, flying off.

Once gone General Andy turned to Princess Luna, "I can almost hear him say 'Well Mallow isn't mellow.'"

Luna stifled a giggle, "Seems like General Iroh is wearing off on you." General Andy just face-hooved.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **The color 'mauve' (mohv) comes from the mallow flower. (Clever, ain't I)**

 **Bit of Star Wars/Sun Tzu**


End file.
